Tyler's Tech Tips
Beginning of the 2015-2016 School Year Edition
In this Issue: Local Visits, Back to School Activities, Plickers Update, Class Dojo Tips, About Me
Local School Visits
Upcoming Visits:
September 14th - Bad Axe
September 15th - Ubly
September 16th - Lakers
September 22nd - Owengage
September 24th - North Huron
September 29th - Harbor Beach
September 30th - Bad Axe
September 30th - Caseville (Afternoon only)
October 1st - Ubly
October 6th - Lakers
October 8th - Owengage
October 13th - North Huron
October 20th - Bad Axe
October 21st - Ubly
October 22nd - Harbor Beach
October 27th - Lakers
October 29th - Owengage
November 4th - North Huron
November 12th - Harbor Beach
November 17th - Owengage
Back to School Activities Using Technology
Plickers Update
For those of you who do not know what Plickers is, it is a student response program (similar to clickers) that uses only ONE classroom device and QR codes. The teacher uses the classroom device (iPad, iPhone, tablet, etc.) to scan students holding QR code cards. If a student thinks the answer to a question is "A", then the student will rotate their QR code card so "A" is facing up. The teacher then scans the class using their device to collect responses. This tool not only is fun and engaging, but it gives students confidence that they will not get singled out for providing the wrong answer.
Class Dojo Tips and New Features
One new ClassDojo update is a feature called Class Story. Class Story is similar to a Facebook for your classroom. It gives teachers the ability to share highlights, pictures, announcements, and links to parents to keep them informed. Parents are not able to post anything on the Class Story wall. They only have the ability to view posts on the wall and "like" them. Check out this feature in your ClassDojo account, or sign up for an account here.
A Little About Me and My Position
For those of you that do not know me, my name is Tyler Leipprandt and I am the Instructional Technology Consultant for the HISD. I graduated from Ubly, went to Rochester College to get my teaching degree, taught in Brown City for five years, got my masters in Instructional Technology at SVSU, and am now working my second year at the HISD.
My position allows me to service all Huron County Educators with any instructional technology needs. Similar to last school year, I will be present in your district on a regular basis. As I visit your school, I am looking to work with you on your quest and need to integrate more tech into your classroom. This may be helping you use classroom devices, creating/teaching technology lessons, observing your classroom and giving suggestions, providing you with PD, helping you implement ideas from my Tech Tips Newsletter, or helping you with any other instructional technology needs.
I will get my schedule to building administrators before I make my visits, which will allow you time to think of technology you may want to implement or questions you may have. If you have questions or want to schedule a time for me to sit down with you when I am at your district, email me or flag me down if you see me in the hallway.
I love to partner with teachers, get back into the classroom, and help students become connected and more engaged. Let me know what I can do for you! To contact me, please email me at tylerl@huronisd.org or call me at (989) 269-3494.